This piece was a small study in surface texture. I had already got a larger piece ready for black lacquer treatment, but I was interested to see what effect I could get by scouring the grain of the wood open and then applying the lacquer.

The result is a very tactile surface where the open grain of the wood is exaggerated by the starkness of the satin black coating. I am quite happy with this effect and plan to carry it further with future work.